


marked

by brandywine421



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 11:46:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11622870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: "When Jughead got his mark, Archie cried for a week," Cheryl tells her after she's flirted her way around Riverdale to survey the landscape for herself.Cheryl has a suspicious relationship with her brother but both are worthy possibilities for fun individually, too. They're poisonous and she has a taste for those sometimes. Veronica's never prey unless she decides it for herself."He assumed they were 'MFEO'," she continues, complete with the fingerquotes. "Of course Betty was low-key mourning, too, they both had a pesky favoritism for the little urchin."





	marked

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to lure some muses out to play. Started this mid-season 1 and by the time the season ended, I was too distracted to get any further. But I like it a lot and sharing is caring.

She gets her mark when she's six. She's eleven before she figures why it made her parents cry. She's relieved they taught her to hide it, until she's older, they say.

But she's not sure she believes in soulmates by the time she hits sixteen. She's been alone with her mark too long by then and outside of PG rated rom-coms - she's never heard of anyone who found a matching mark on their first few tries.

* * *

She meets Archie first and will always be grateful for such a great shirtless first impression. Plus, he introduces her to Betty and Kevin and Josie and her Pussycats.

Archie knows everyone and by midday, she feels like she knows everyone, too considering how many times she's been sized up. It should be a relief at lunch to be outside but even the picnic table in the courtyard seems suffocating.

"He's not normally such a busybody," Betty says when Archie spots someone he *has* to introduce to her.

She raises a questioning eyebrow at the comment. "So he's like a puppy that gets excited with new people?"

Kevin, proving to be a prime source of gossip thus far (with Betty as the filter because Veronica can already read Betty's face to know if the guy's scoop is truth or fiction) speaks up. "No, it was a visitation weekend, he's always weird on visitation days."

Veronica's reminded of the divorce papers filed behind the subpoenas in her mother's briefcase. She wonders if he has a dad in jail like her. Or if he's in a split household, also like her.

She's not used to either of the definitions enough to own them and ask outright. Betty swats at Kevin. "Don't say that. And it's not one of those weekends."

A kid she doesn't remember meeting slides onto the bench in a battered denim jacket and a knit cap tugged down over dark curls.

"Where were you this morning?" Betty asks him. "I thought you had homeroom with me."

He shrugs and she considers introducing herself since he hasn't spared her a glance yet but Archie returns and lights up like sunshine when he sees the guy. "Jug, you made it."

"Jug?" she repeats without thinking.

"Jughead's my brother, sort of," Archie says, nudging him over on the bench so they're sharing personal space. "Have you been smoking?"

"Fred already busted me, why do you think I was late? You forgot lunch," 'Jughead' says, placing a styrofoam cooler on the table that he pulls from somewhere.

"Ooh, did you make it?" Kevin perks up. "Jughead's like a Chopped champion."

"This is Veronica, she just moved here from New York with her mom," Archie introduces her, finally. She's intrigued by the oddly named boy even more when he reveals several individually wrapped tins of quiche.

"Nice to meet you. Jughead," she says, managing not to laugh.

"Most people don't say that until after they taste my food," he smirks and passes around the dishes. She notices he doesn't take one himself.

Kevin leans over when Archie walks Jughead out of hearing distance. "Jughead lives with Archie and his Dad, he has a weird family and we are never allowed to talk about it."

"He has food issues, but we all have issues," Betty frowns at Kevin. "He doesn't like to eat in front of people. You don't like penguins, it's not a big deal."

Kevin shudders at the mention of penguins. "True, but it's only fair she should know the rules. Archie and Jug are a package deal. Archie only goes running shirtless, sadly, on the mornings Jughead isn't home. My rules include never mentioning penguins, or the Mormon Church, or Channing Tatum. For Archie and Betty, you can talk about pretty much anything as long as it's not Jughead," he says, sticking out his tongue at Betty.

She has so many more questions now.

"Oh my God, oh my God, is this goat cheese?" is the only one she can manage after she has a taste of the quiche.

She can see the change in Archie when he takes the seat beside her, almost like he's dropped all his masks with his 'brother's' appearance.

It's a puzzle she looks forward to figuring out for herself.

* * *

"When Jughead got his mark, Archie cried for a week," Cheryl tells her after she's flirted her way around Riverdale to survey the landscape for herself.

Cheryl has a suspicious relationship with her brother but both are worthy possibilities for fun individually, too. They're poisonous and she has a taste for those sometimes. Veronica's never prey unless she decides it for herself.

"He assumed they were 'MFEO'," she continues, complete with the fingerquotes. "Of course Betty was low-key mourning, too, they both had a pesky favoritism for the little urchin."

She's insulted on Jughead's behalf until Cheryl tugs on the cuff of her cheerleading jacket to show an intricately tattooed flower blossom on her wrist. "That's not a soulmark."

Cheryl sighs as if she isn't waiting for the question. "That one just means your best match has popped a cherry, divined by higher powers or some jazz. These are marks that we choose for ourselves. Jason and I are matches, always."

Veronica doesn't know if that's a point in the 'fucking' or 'not fucking' column for the twins.

"Just letting you know how it works when you decide to chase Archie or Betty. You'll never get a matching mark," Cheryl lilts.

They step outside in sync and Veronica smirks when she sees Jason and Jughead exchanging money for tupperware.

"Eclairs," Cheryl whispers, striding away to accost her twin.

Veronica follows because she didn't know Jughead took orders.

"Thanks again, I know how you hate cooking vegan," Jason says, glaring at Cheryl when she reaches for the box.

"Ugh, why?" Cheryl huffs.

"Not everything is your business," Jason responds, putting an arm around her shoulders and flashing his matching flower tattoo as he guides her down the stairs.

"I know I'm still figuring out the social hierarchy around here, but they are weird, right? My barometer's not completely wrong on that, right?" she asks Jughead.

"Everyone in Riverdale is weird," Jughead responds. "Cheryl's more than that. Her brother's okay, though."

"Must be if you make him Vegan eclairs," Veronica smiles. "Do you seriously take orders?"

He shrugs. "Only on special occasions. Jason and Polly might turn into something and it's nice that he wants to support her misguided culinary choices, you know?"

She knows Polly is Betty's sister but she didn't know she was with a Blossom.

"Hm. What kind of occasion do I need to earn a request?" Veronica says, giving him her best eyebrow and smile.

Jughead's gaze flickers across her face but he doesn't settle on her lips like most boys she tries that on. He smiles slightly and cups her right hand in his own before tracing her palm with his fingers. "Next Wednesday, you're going to invite me and Betty over for dinner. I'll make something that will put your mom in a better mood and she'll tell you all the things you want to know and haven't asked yet," he says, folding her fingers in so she's holding a fist when he's finished.

She laughs but she can't hide her surprise at the strange response. "That's oddly specific."

He winks at her and she accepts the challenge for what it is.

* * *

She invites Archie to dinner on Thursday instead but she's not surprised when the plans shift under the ginger's sudden grounding for a fight at football practice and Betty's sadface on Wednesday.

"Her sister ran off with Jason Blossom and her mom is nutso," Kevin confides. "We're taking shifts so she doesn't have to eat at home at all until her mom gets some chill."

Veronica can use the buffer after the blowout she'd with her own mother about her passive aggressive Instagram war with her NYC frenemies.

Betty hesitates at the invitation. "You're not just doing this because of Kevin's gossip, are you?"

"I don't listen to his gossip if you're not around to filter," Veronica replies. "I could just use someone to distract my Mom from lecturing me. She's worried about how I'm adjusting," she adds.

"Well, in that case, I'd love to come to yours for dinner. Can Jug come, too? He promised to cleanse my aura, don't laugh, and it's hard to get him around without Archie," Betty admits.

"Wait, so he's a master chef and a wizard?" Veronica snickers.

Betty smiles but doesn't meet her eyes. "He's, well, he has a little bit of magic. Archie doesn't like him to use it, but it helps so much."

She doesn't know if she believes in magic but she's not too jaded not to give his palm-reading another go.

* * *

Turns out, her mom believes in all the magic and gasps when she shakes Jughead's hand in greeting.

Veronica and Betty spend the first couple of hours bonding over clothes and girl-ing out and she almost forgets that Jughead's working alone in her kitchen until the first aromas drift into the bedroom.

Her mom turns up when they're setting the table and she greets Betty warmly before flinching at Jughead.

"Rude, Mom," Veronica scolds.

"No, I'm so sorry. It's an honor to have you visit my home," she says, glancing at her quickly before focusing on Jughead. "I was unaware my daughter had made friends of your rank."

"Nope," Jughead says quickly.

Betty intervenes, stepping forward. "Oh, no, we don't talk about things like that, Jughead's *ours*. He's not into that, so yeah, he cooked dinner, are you hungry? You have an awesome home, will you show me the back? Veronica said I had to ask you for the whole tour - "

Veronica sizes Jughead up when her mother's been whisked away. "Do I need to ask what that's about?"

"Stick around Riverdale long enough and you'll figure out what's real and what's bullshit. I don't know you well enough for any explanations yet," Jughead replies.

"My mom just almost bowed to you - " she protests.

"Veronica. You know I grew up here. Things were different then and I forgot myself for a moment. We'll talk about it later. Or perhaps over tea?" Her mother directs at Jughead when she returns with Betty lagging behind.

"He doesn't do tea," Betty says immediately.

"We're doing homework after dinner, Mom. You're being weird and the food's getting cold," Veronica says.

Jughead disappears into the kitchen once they finally sit down and Betty leans forward to her mom after a glance at her phone. "He says that you know his father and he isn't sure if he can trust you. He has a tricky relationship to that side of his family so it's nothing personal towards you, okay?"

Her mother nods. "Thank you for telling me. And for looking out for him. I'll keep my distance."

Betty smiles and motions to Veronica. "He likes V a lot so it would suck if he had to stop cooking for her."

* * *

"Do you love him?"

"Yes," her mother's response is desperate enough to catch her attention.

"Do you have his mark? Soul and heart?"

Veronica covers Betty's mouth before her mother and Jughead know they're listening.

"Yes."

"Do you trust him?"

"Yes. I always knew what I was signing up for. But Veronica. She has to make her own choices and I don't - I have to make sure she comes first."

Betty bites her hand. "Juggy, are you ready? We can't be late for curfew," she interrupts with a glare at Veronica's mom.

"Almost," Jughead says. He motions for Veronica to join him and he takes her hand and her mother's. "Jewelry's easy enough when it's real gems." The ruby on her mother's left hand lights up for a moment and her mother hums. "Now, when you need a reminder of how much your kid loves you, there it goes," he says, releasing them both.

Her mom clutches her hand to her chest. "Oh. Thank you."

"It's not a blessing. It's just a trick," Betty says. Jughead puts his arm around her and she leans her head against his shoulder.

"No arguments here because I want him to cook for me again," Veronica says to defuse the situation before they decide never to come back.

Jughead pauses at the door. "Mrs. Lodge. My father's a liar and a thief. And not the safe kind so don't be surprised if that thing lights up when you see him again."

* * *

Archie gets paroled but she finds herself spending more time with Betty and Jug than Kevin or Archie. She's fine with cheerleading as her extracurricular for the moment and she actually settles into Riverdale.

She's too complacent when Jughead's absence from homeroom sends her mind into overdrive.

"It's visitation weekend, he's staying with his dad," Betty tells her.

"I thought things were weird with his dad," she responds.

Archie drops his books heavily on the lunch table. "He hates going but he loves his dad. We have to respect that. Unless he comes home with a sign that they're fucking with him, we can't confront him about it."

"Whoa," Veronica hisses. "That's - "

"They don't fuck with him. They wouldn't dare," Betty says, grabbing for Archie's wrist and pinching the tiny blue crown that mimicked Jughead's beanie cap.

Cheryl's words taunt her. ' _You'll never get a matching mark._ ' Fuck her.

"We wouldn't know," Archie sighs. "I mean, sorry, Veronica, but you know enough, right? He's a little bit magic, so if they fuck with him that way we wouldn't know."

"He can take care of himself. He always comes back and he's always fine. He would tell us," Betty says.

Veronica nods and hopes that Archie will relax a notch so she can. "He would tell you, Archiekins. He loves you guys too much to lie about it."

* * *

"Mom?" She hears voices and pulls a robe on over her pj's to follow the sound.

"Of course, FP, it's fine, he's welcome here anytime. You, however, have to leave."

"Hey, Jug, you'll come back next month still, right? I promise I didn't know..."

"Sure, Dad, If you'll just..."

"FP. Thank you for calling me, I'll take it from here. Smithers?"

She doesn't see who 'FP' is but she's distracted by Jughead's slumped form, face shadowed by a hoodie hiding his eyes.  
  
"I don't know why he called you, Mrs. Lodge," Jughead's voice is small. Tired. Wrong.

"Because I asked him to. He sensed your magic on me. I didn't remember him from school but when he dropped your name I knew why you were wary of me."

"Why don't you want to tell Mr. Andrews? Are you all right?" Veronica blurts out. She knows better than to initiate contact but she puts her hands over the cotton hoodie and tilts his head back until she can see his eyes. He looks hollow.

"I don't do tea. I don't do cards. I definitely don't do bloodletting," Jughead whispers with vacant, blown pupils. "It's not magic. It's not a blessing. It's just tricks. _Tricks_ ," he repeats.

"Fred probably doesn't know shit about magic. My great-great grandma had enough to pass on the basics but I never saw a need to talk about it with you," her mother says apologetically. "This kid's got something."

"Please don't tell," Jughead says. "They won't understand."

"I think that all depends on how much you'll let us help," her mother says. "Fred's a friend of mine, unlike FP."

"Dad didn't know they caught me alone. He drank too much. It's not his fault," Jughead says. "I...I don't need a doctor. I might need to clean up but I don't know where they cut me," he adds.

"We'll have to touch you for that. Are you okay with me putting hands on you?" Veronica asks softly.

"Above the waist, at least when your mom's here," he snorts but his eyelids sag and he leans forward until their foreheads are touching. "The only people that have seen my mark already wore my mark," he admits with eyes closed.

* * *

She hovers her fingertips over the soulmark low on his hip but he's still holding his breath for her to soothe the 'special' salve over the precise slices on his back. "Jug."

"Yeah?"

She recognizes a slur in his voice and bites back all her questions. Now is not the time. "I'm glad your father called us."

"I'm surprised. I'm still a little out of it."

She carefully preps and bandages his cuts and tries to ignore the way he shivers with each contact.

"Fred used to do this for me. His whole custody agreement is complicated because of the magic. Like, I'm not supposed to use it but...sometimes I have to let it out. I didn't - I forgot what it was like to be...taken, you know? I got lazy, I forgot - how could I forget?"

"Hey. Things like this aren't supposed to happen. I hope you can forget this, too." She hesitates as she lowers her hand. "Look at your arm, Jug. You've got so many people that love you." She strums her fingers over Archie's large "R", over Betty's pink heart with a blue bow, over the annoying blossom and Kevin's star down to Reggie's neat Japanese calligraphy. "They're going to know you're hurt."

"The cream will fix me up and I'll sleep it off."

"So you're a healer, too?"

Jughead hums. "Mom is. Kind of. I'm a good cook, I could be good at potions, too, if I wanted." He tucks his arm lined with marks against his bare chest. "Thank you for letting me stay tonight."

She drops her gaze to the soulmark but doesn't touch. She can't touch. Not yet. She needs to know more - know everything - before she mentions the match.

"And tomorrow," she corrects. "I'll have to cancel on Betty and Archie since they were coming over for Netflix, but you're required to stay all weekend per my Mother."

Jughead sighs. "If. If you and your mom promise not to tell them about the blood-stuff, I'll...I'll talk to Fred."

"You'll talk to Fred? Promise?" she asks, carefully sliding a t-shirt over his head so he can finish the sleeves himself.

"Maybe."

* * *

She wakes up to the sound of Jughead's voice and kicks at her mother's socked foot in her face where they passed out on the couch. It's still early enough for infomercials on the muted TV.

Jughead had fallen asleep on the loveseat after she'd patched him up but he's awake now, phone pressed to his ear.

"If Dad called you, then you should already know what happened," he mumbles. "It wasn't his fault - it - no. I asked him not to call you last night...he took me somewhere else."

Veronica tosses a pillow at him, bouncing it off the top of his beanie.

"I'm at Mrs. Lodge's apartment. Dad wasn't supposed to tell you before I got the chance to explain," Jughead says. "No. No. I told him I wanted to leave and he brought me here."

"Tell him to bring breakfast if he's coming before ten, brunch if after," her mother yawns.

"Yeah. You can come over, but I need groceries to replace what I use for breakfast."

* * *

"Even though they got my blood, it's tainted. I was unwilling so it'll make their spells go wonky. It's complicated. They deal in dirty magic," Jughead says quietly. "Not all of Dad's friends remember how it works. Dad didn't know what they had planned, I think they got him drunk on purpose."

Fred reaches over and squeezes his shoulder. "Damn, kid. You - I thought you were safe there."

"I am, I was. I thought..." Jughead struggles with his words. He takes a deep breath and nods. "All right. So. I like seeing my Dad but I don't think the weekend visits are going to work anymore."

"He needs to know his old man's okay and time to play with his mojo but he doesn't need to spend weekends there for that," Veronica chimes in. Her mother swats at her but Jughead seems relieved for the momentary distraction.

"I thought you said the cooking stuff was working," Fred says, scanning him again.

"It's been...weird lately. Jellybean says it's because I'm getting older but - I don't know. It's not the kind of stuff Dad can help me with," Jughead shrugs.

Veronica glances at her mom but she shakes her head. At least she's not the only one out of the loop.

"Jug's mom is a Fae, the full kind," Fred says, watching Jughead carefully in case he objects. "Nephilim, is that the PC way to say it now?"

"It doesn't matter. Only girls get props for the half-Fae part," Jughead smiles.

"If your dad can't help you with the 'mojo'," Fred says, glancing at Veronica curiously. "Then we'll renegotiate your visits, all right? Supervised, or at least public spaces. And maybe your sister can recommend someone else to help you with the rest."

"We can't help with the teaching part, but he's welcome to practice his 'cooking' over here," her mother says. "I'm not a witch, but there's history in my DNA and I picked up his aura with a handshake. He's welcome to practice here." She holds up her hand to flash the ruby ring. "He's been helpful to have around."

Jughead snorts but Fred smiles. "He could practice at home but some of our neighbors get...snooty about it."

"Ah, yes, the Coopers. But the Blossoms own the hotel and Smithers has already reported that the head chef wants to borrow Jughead for Solstice."

Fred glances at Jughead who pointedly glances away. "Solstice is a thing?"

"For witches, I'm not a witch. But yeah, it's a thing for magic stuff," Jughead replies. "And I don't want to go to the Blossoms for Solstice, I already told Cheryl to fuck off."

"Language, Juggy," Fred laughs through his scolding. "Go clean up your mess while I talk to Hermione, all right?"

Veronica follows him into the kitchen just to see his face when he realizes they have staff for that. "So you're definitely sticking around for the weekend now that you don't have to clean up after yourself, right?"

"You're off the hook now, aren't you? Fred's going to get me out of your hair," Jughead replies.

She considers everything she's learned about the broody 'urchin' today. Then she considers the mark she's worn since she was six.

"Veronica? What is it?" Jughead asks after she considers too long.

"I, kind of, need to talk to you privately before you're whisked back to the suburbs," she admits.

"I'm not making tea," he smiles but she sees the concern he doesn't say. "What?"

"Give me your word that you won't freak out," she says, moving close.

"I don't know if I can promise when you're starting off with that," Jughead says, but her turns to meet her eyes.

She slides her fingers into her waistband and sighs. "It's only fair since you showed me yours that I show you mine."

He huffs out a laugh when he recognizes the mark, reaching out to touch but stopping a breath out of reach. "Can I?"

"I think I should get to see yours again first," she replies. "We should do it at the same time."

He pulls his hand back but rolls down his jeans to show the edge of the match. "Shit. You got it when you were just a kid."

"Six. But we don't have to talk about that right now. You've had a long day already," Veronica offers quietly.

"No, it's only fair since it affected you, too," he replies. "Only Fred and Archie really know the whole deal. It's why they took me in."

Veronica holds her breath. "Okay."

"Dad was running with a different crew back then. When they found out I was half-Fae, they wanted to make sure I matched with one of theirs so they triggered my mark early. They had this whole ritual thing. It was..."

She presses her fingers lightly against his mark and feels a surge of warmth on her own hip. "It was unfair. I should have been able to find you for myself," she finishes for him.

Her mother's voice startles them both. "I'm heading out with Fred for errands, but we'll be back before noon. Call me if you go out."

"We're staying in," Veronica calls back. "But okay."

She has more talking to do with Jughead.

* * *

He insists on calling Archie and she insists on calling Betty, too since she's been flirting with both of them for weeks. She's still not sure why she hasn't been flirting with Jughead before. It's more than the mark.

She wants to get inside his head. She wants to pick him apart.

She wants him to pick her apart.

"Is there a reason you're staring at each other? Veronica?" Betty's voice breaks in.

Jughead looks away first and she clears her throat. "Sorry. Hey. We need to relocate to my room for privacy."

"Why aren't you at your dad's?" Archie ignores her to confront Jughead.

"Please, privacy is good because we have lots to tell you and discuss," Veronica says, taking both of them by the wrist and dragging them down the hall to her room.

Jughead follows behind and locks the door. She likes hotel living because her side of the suite is big enough for couches and seats.

"Our parents all know each other," Veronica starts. "So after Jughead did his mojo on her rings - "

"You're not supposed to be doing that without me," Archie interrupts.

"Betty was here," Jughead says and Archie deflates a notch. "But Dad recognized the magic so when things went sideways this weekend, he brought me here. Because he knew her and because she knew how the magic stuff works."

"What kind of sideways?" Archie asks softly.

"I'm okay. I don't have to go over there anymore on the weekends. Your dad's going to work something out. I'm okay and - that's not what we need to talk to you about," Jughead says in a rush.

Archie steps forward and embraces Jughead in a single motion and they mumble to each other.

Betty taps her arm. "Thanks for taking care of him. We'll have to add you to the call tree for next time," she says.

Jughead pulls back and holds Archie's wrists and pushes their foreheads together. "Nothing's changed. I'm still safe and you and Fred are still home. This is something else now, we're turning the page."

"But we'll talk about it later."

"If you're still talking to me later," Jughead replies.

Archie glances at Veronica for a beat and then back to Jug. "Why wouldn't I talk to you?"

"We have to talk about soulmarks now," Jughead blurts out.

Betty blushes brightly. "Oh. Wow. Why?"

"Because we made a deal. If any of us found our matches, we would tell each other immediately," Jughead said.

"Oh," Archie says, scratching at his head. "Um. We did make that deal."

Veronica glances between them. "Why is this suddenly weirder than advertised?"

"I know Archie and I aren't a match. I got mine at summer camp six months before he turned up blushing at school," Betty says in a rush. She tugs up her shirt to flash a mark hidden by her bra strap on her side.

"Oh God. You should have told me, Betts," Jughead says with wide eyes. "I know that mark."

"Damn," Archie whispers, but pulls up his shirt to show his soulmark.

"Jesus, I know yours, too," Jughead groans.

"Wait - if - back up," Archie starts.

Veronica flashes her mark and everything stops. "There. We've all shared now."

"Oh, Jug. You found her," Betty says finally, almost reverent.

"That's why we had talk about it now," Jughead sighs.

"Your magic's been wonky since she moved to town, that makes a lot of sense," Archie says.

Jughead glances at him. "Wait, you think - "

Archie shrugs. "I Google things."

* * *

"Tea. I thought you didn't do tea." Veronica's confused.

He waves his hand, distracted. "It's a special occasion. My mom's coming for the Solstice and to talk to Fred and stuff. And I want to help Betty and Cheryl deal with their insane families so Jason and Polly are coming in for it."

She realizes suddenly that 'tea' is a huge deal. "I thought they were in hiding."

"They are, but it's, like, a holiday and we're trusting that nobody's going to make waves," Jughead says quietly.

She places her hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure? I mean, isn't it too much right now?"

He sighs and leans his head against her hand. Oh. "It's good. I can get my magic level down in one go. Then maybe I'll be able to think about your mark without spontaneously combusting."

That's reassuring since they've been so careful about personal space since the confession to Betty and Archie.

"I don't know how good I am with intimate contact so I preemptively request we go slow. I'm a boss cuddler," Jughead says slowly. "But skin-to-skin might be tricky."

"I can dig," Veronica smiles. She takes a chance and straddles him in his chair, settling onto his thighs and draping her arms over his shoulders. "See? No bare skin contact here," she smiles, leaning forward to rest her head against his hat.

He smiles and tilts his chin up to capture her lips. "Sweet."

"Liar," Veronica breathes and takes another taste for herself. "I intend to find out more about your cuddling skills later but how can I help tonight?"

"Hang out with Archie and Betty so they don't worry? I need them to be okay with everything and they get, kind of, smothering," Jughead answered. "After the tea and everything, I have orders to sleep or else Fred's going to make me see a doctor."

She steals another kiss. "Well, you're staying here, right? Just invite Archie and Bets, if you want, and we'll have a sleepover. We'll watch your back and make sure you're not alone in a strange place."

Jughead hums against her mouth. "You'll never win that argument with Fred, but the idea's nice."

* * *

_"You will not see him again."_

_"Mom."_

_"I hear all good things from Fred, that you're healthy and going to school and now I find out that - bastard - "_

_"It wasn't his fault, Mom."_

_"Don't defend him, not for this. I don't know why you insist on seeing him."_

_"He's my dad. He's the only member of my family I'm allowed to see, right? Because it's not like I'm allowed to see you or Jellybean."_

_"Honey, you know that you can't be in Avalon..."_

_"I know. But if I can't see you or Jelly in person, I should be able to see Dad."_

_"Not at the risk of your safety."_

_"Mom. I'm making tea."_

_"Oh. For Solstice?"_

_"Yes. And for you and Jellybean and all the people that keep harassing me about it. And Fred's not going to let me stay overnight, or alone with Dad anymore. Only supervised, short-term visits."_

_"Tea. It's been so long since you've made tea. I'm honored."_

* * *

She nods her thanks to the host that seats her between her mother and Archie's father. Fred gives her a nervous smile and her mother elbows her to swap. Archie grins at her, rosy hair and rosy cheeks.

"So, what's the big deal about tea?" she whispers to him.

He shrugs. "He's a seer. That's, like, way more serious than being psychic and he didn't get it from his Mom's side."

Fred clears his throat. "If he'd been born a girl, he'd be worshiped in Avalon. He's an Oracle."

Her mother glances at him. "Oracles are a myth."

Betty slips into the seat beside Archie with a wary smile. "Hi. We don't say that word, remember? Jug doesn't like it."

"Just be careful if you ask for tea," Archie says. "It's not actually a trick."

* * *

She's nearly catatonic after dessert is served - she wishes she'd worn something with an elastic waistband. The guests that had only been invited for dinner, not tea, start to drift toward the exits.

_*Head Chef has zero chill.*_

Archie elbows her with a grin. Jughead's been sending them texts from the kitchen but he's been MIA from the main dining room.

* _When are you done?_ * she sends, unchecking the group text.

* _Having a smoke before tea. Dont tell Fred._ *

"Tea's going to be done on the roof, for Solstice. Can we go help set up, Dad?" Archie speaks up.

"We can hang out with him while he does the easy ones," Betty adds, already shrugging into her jacket.

They make it to the lobby before a girl catches their attention from the elevator with a shrill whistle. " **Archie**!"

"Jellybean!" he grins, leading a jog toward the elevator she's holding for them.

Veronica doesn't get a chance to study Jughead's sister because his *mom* - a glowing, winged actual Faerie - is in the corner.

"Betty, you're so pretty! It's been so long!" Jellybean gushes over Betty and Archie and leaves Veronica open for Mrs. Jones to greet.

"Ms. Lodge, correct? You are a friend of my son's?" she asks bluntly.

"Veronica. Um. Jughead's really happy to see you," she adds, hoping she's not speaking out of turn. "I mean, the circumstances suck, but, um, happy Solstice?"

Luckily, Mrs. Jones smiles. "Thank you. I am no fan of your father, Veronica, but your mother has been a gracious host to my son. I know entirely too much about sharing a mark with a man that doesn't deserve it."

Ouch.

"I hope you deserve my son's mark," Mrs. Jones says coolly.

"Mom, you promised you weren't going to harass her," Jellybean chimes in, pulling her into a stunned embrace. "Hi. Sorry about her, she's ridiculous about Juggie since she's not around to cockblock him in person."

"I'm still disappointed it wasn't Archie, he grew up nice," Mrs. Jones says a moment before Jellybean gasps. Betty chokes. "Oh. Hello, Archie, Elizabeth," Mrs. Jones adds when she catches her mistake.

"Hi," they reply in unison. The elevator dings and she's grateful for Betty's reaction time because she quickly pulls Veronica out of the claustrophobic horror box.

"Oh my God, she's so embarrassing," Archie laughs, catching up to them at the door.

"That's a word for it," Veronica huffs.

**Author's Note:**

> I did all this research on reading tea leaves and throwing bones and all kinds of things. I just didn't get there.


End file.
